Recession? Or Not?

In the same week we get government reports that the U.S. economy grew 3.3. percent, but the jobless rate rose to 6.1 percent in August. That's up from 5 percent in April, the kind of rise that screams of recession.

But what if job losses no longer mean recession? What if the kind of jobless prosperity fretted about for, well, at least 15 years has started to emerge. What if Nick Carr is right about jobs being made obsolete?
Are we seeing a recession? The arrival of the real New Economy? Or something else?

Michael Fitzgerald writes about innovation and other big ideas in business for publications like the New York Times, The Economist, Fast Company, Inc. and CIO. He’s worked as a writer or editor at Red Herring, ZDNet, TechTV and Computerworld, and has received numerous awards as a writer and editor. Most recently, his piece on the hacker collective the l0pht won the 2008 award for best trade piece from the American Society of Journalists and Authors. He was also a 2007 Templeton-Cambridge Journalism Fellow in Science and Religion.